Green Bay Press-Gazette business reporter Jeff Bollier, aka Streetwise, wants to hear from you with news on new businesses, openings, closings, expansions and improvements. You can contact him at jbollier@gannett.com. March 14, 2018.
Jeff Bollier/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

GREEN BAY - We here at Streetwise have a double dose of delicious news.

You see, one restaurant wasn't enough for Chris Wiltfang this time.

Wiltfang, proprietor of the popular Skaliwags restaurants and food truck, has developed not one, but two restaurants in the space formerly known as the Candlestick Lounge and the Adams Street Pub in downtown Green Bay.

Skaliwags Burger Company and The High Cotton Club, 121 N. Adams St., begins a "soft open" phase today after months of renovations and updates to the bar and grill's layout and style. The restaurants will be open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Wiltfang advises diners to give the restaurants' staff a couple weeks to work out kinks and develop a rhythm.

The restaurants inside the long, narrow space are separated by a glass wall.

In the front is Skaliwags Burger Company. As its name implies, it's the casual dining spot for burgers, fries and beer, more of the after work space to meet friends and have a cocktail.

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Skaliwags Burger Company, 121 N. Adams St., opened in early July in the former Adams Street Pub building. The restaurant focuses on burgers and more casual dining.(Photo: Jeff Bollier/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN)

Behind the frosted glass wall and soundproofing, in the back, is the The High Cotton Club. It's a more intimate space with tables and a bar with a clear view of Wiltfang and Marshall, his son and fellow Skaliwag chef, as they cook for both restaurants.

"People want to talk to their chefs," Wiltfang said. "It's a cool time to be in the restaurant business. Customers want to hang out with you, see you work. We think of the bar back here as a 17-person chef's table."

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The High Cotton Club, a new fine dining restaurant at 121 N. Adams St., offers diners a clear view of the kitchen. Skaliwags Chef Chris Wiltfang opened the restaurant in early July.(Photo: Jeff Bollier/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

He said the name The High Cotton Club comes from a popular Southern phrase.

"In the south, when 'the cotton's high,' that means you're living good," Wiltfang said. "You'll be living pretty good in The High Cotton Club, too."

Skaliwags started as a food truck and then a small restaurant in Algoma. It has since added several locations, which have met with different ends. Uncorked by Skaliwags, on Ellis Street in Kewaunee, closed in May due to struggles finding staff. But Wiltfang's first venture into the Green Bay area, Skaliwags by Chef Chris, in Suamico, continues to do good business since it opened in May 2018.

Wiltfang was content with just the Suamico and Algoma locations until Edward Martin, of H.J. Martin & Son, bought the Adams Street Pub building. Martin asked Wiltfang to consider it and insisted he at least look at the space.

"Ed and (H.J Martin & Son expediter) Jason Frisch, both of them made this a reality," Wiltfang said. "They did all of this work. Everything is tight and right. It is perfect."

To help fund the renovations, Wiltfang offered $1,000 memberships in the restaurants' Founders Club, a strategy he also used at the Suamico location. The membership gives investors access to special discounts and benefits at the new restaurant.

Streetwise is Press-Gazette business reporter Jeff Bollier. Got a question or tip? Contact Jeff at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GBstreetwise.